Aircraft



L. V. JOHNSON.

AIRCRAFT.

APPLlCATlON FILED JULY 3,

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Jwu Lou/5160 L. V. JOHNSON.

- AIRCRAF T.

APPLlCATlOhl FILED JULY 3,1919

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

SNM

3 Lou is /0/7116012 OZ L. V. lOHNSON.

AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 3,1919.

1,374,150. Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- UNITED STATES LOUIS V. JOHNSON, OF ORANGE, TEX AS.

AIRCRAFT.

Application filed July 3, 1919.

To all whom it-mag concern Be it known that I, LOUIS V. JoHNsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orange, in the county of Orange and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aircraft, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to aeronautics, and more particularly to steering; and the object of the same is to provide air craft with means additional to its vertical and horizontal rudders for correcting or for altering the position of the craft within the air. .On water craft the order trim ship is given when the boat is not traveling on an even keel, or in other words when there is a list to starboard or to port, but the ship is trimmed fore and aft by the proper disposition of the cargo when it. is loaded. In an air craft the position of the body can be corrected by this invention and then steered by the rudders, or the invention may be used to assist in steering. Specifically, the invention consists in providing the body with a weight, such as a car which may carry cargo or passengers, mounting the weight so that it may be moved with respect to the center of mass, and equipping the structure with a control standing within reach of the driver or pilot so that he can adjust the weight at any time. Details of the preferred manner of carrying out this invention are set forth below and shown in the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an aeroplane equipped with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a planview thereof with the plane omitted.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation.

Fig. 41 is a sectional detail illustrative of the control levers for the rudders, this view showing the movable car, the control therefor, and the connectionbetween this control and the car itself.

The framework of this craft, broadly designated by the numeral 1, need not be of special structure, as far as the present invention is concerned, but is shown herein as carrying a body 2 which is sharp at the front and rear ends and is provided with a floor 3, and at the top of the framework is a single plane 1 arched transversely, as seen in Fig. 3. The craft illustrated is driven by a forward propeller 5 and a rearward propeller 6, each having its own motor 7, although this is not essential. It is desir- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

Serial No. 308,464.

able, however, that heavy units such as the propellers and the motors shall be so placed that the center of mass of the entire structure shall beat a point which in Fig. 1 would probably be aboutmidway between the uprights of the framework, and when the craft is propelled straight through the air and on'an even keel, the floor 3 will be level. The numeral 8 designates the horizontal rudder and the numeral 9 the vertical rudder, these being operated by suitable connections between them and the control levers 18 and 19 shown in Fig. 4 as within reach of the driver or pilot when he sits on his fixed seat 10. Details are not important, excepting that as usual he manipulates one lever to adjust the position of the horizontal rudder 8 for varying the pitch of the craft and eventually its altitude, and he manipulates the other lever for adjusting the verticlal rudder 9 for steering the craft to either SIC e.

The gist of the invention lies in the provision of a weight which is herein shown as a car 11 having wheels 12 mounted on tracks 18 upon the floor 3 entirely in rear of the operators seat 10, the tracks 13 leading in both directions past the center of mass. As herein shown, these tracks run fore and aft, and the adjustment of the car would therefore be longitudinal of the body 2 along its transverse center, but the broadest latitude in this respect is reserved. The car is herein shown as provided with seats 14 which may accommodate passengers, but they could be omitted and the car could carry freight. Also it might be slidably mounted on suitable guides instead of having wheels traveling on rails. 'It is essential only that the movable element be heaiw so that it may be described by the word weight, and thatit may rest exactly at the center of mass or may be adjusted away from said point.

One means of adjustment is shown in Fig. 4:.5 It consists of an endless cable 15 attached at 16 to the car and its rear end passing over an idler 17, while its front end passes around a pulley fast on the shaft of a manual control which is herein shown as a wheel 19 mounted within reach of the pilot when he is on his fixed seat 10. By turning this wheel one way or the other the car may be adjusted forward or backward, as will be clear. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the wheel 19 which moves about a horizontal pivot is provided with a plurality of peripheral notches 31 adapted to receive the forward end of a pawl 32.-pivoted interme i diate its ends to the frame, as indicated at By moving the pawl out of engagement with the wheel 19, the. shaft carrying the wheel may be operated for imparting longitudinal.

gles to'the leg itself. The pivots are preferably in the shape'of knucklejoin'tsso thatthe legs may not move farther forward than-v to, the position shown in; Fig. l, but they may move backward as indicated in dotted lines, and-they do so move when the craft starts off. By preference the front leg or legs are longerfthan the rear leg or legs so that the plane a shall incline upward and .zontalrudder 8 at all.

forward at'starting, the better to catch the air and cause 1t to rise before 'suflicien't momentum: has been attained.

1 With the air craft equipped with this invention it is clearly obvious that the pilot,

by adjusting the weight forward, can .depress the bow, or by adjusting it rearward can raise the bow, and thus descend or ascend to some extent without using the horithe pitch by using this rudder, or he may use the rudder first and then increase the pitch by moving the weight. If the latter be mounted on a track 13 extending along the Y transverse center of thefloor, it is obvious that ad ustment fore and art will have no effect on lateral steering by means of the vertical rudder 9, but it is conceivable that the weight might be mounted on tracks transverse to the body, or it is possible that it could be'mounted for transversemove ment on a platform which itself is movable longitudinally, and suitable controls pro vided for adjusting the weight in either direction. It is desirable, however, that the weight in its normal or usual position shall stand at'the center of mass, perhaps mid way between the two motors and the propellers and about beneath the center of the plane or planes, whatever theirnumber and construction." If so, then the adjustment of the weight in any direction from such He may increase point will naturally depress that part of the structure toward which the weight is moved, and such-depression may be employed bythe pilot for steering purposes or to assist in steering.

Attention is invited to the transverse arch of the plane, as shown in Fig. 3, the plane being of preferably the same curvature throughout its entire length. This construction is purposely adopted to afford an; element of safety which is important, be cause a craft equipped with one or more planes so made will glide to earth safely, even if the motors should fail entirely... Moreover, this construction is highly desirable because it facilitates rapid flying because the curved or arched planes cut edgewise through the air, and so the plane need of this'kind would trap air and serve, to an extent, in the capacity of a parachute.

Having thus described the invent-ion, what is claimed as new is: i In an air craft, the combination with a "transversely bowed sustaining plane, of a main body carried by and arranged beneath said plane and disposed completely within the lines of the same, a fixed pilot seat arranged in the forward portion of the body, a track carried by the said main body and extending longitudinally of the same, )as senger body mounted upon said track and movable longitudinally within the first named body rearwardly of the fixed pilot seat and provided with a plurality of assenger disposed in the longitudinal plane of the pilot seat, a flexible element connected to the ends of the passenger body, guides supporting saidfiexible element and disposed adjacent the ends of: the main body, and means arranged adjacent the pilot seat and connection to said flexible element whereby the pilot may shift said passenger body and the passengers within the, same longitudinally of the main body without leaving the pilot seat, said passenger body and the controlling means for the same being disposed entirely within the'lines of: andhouse'd by the main body.

Intestimony whereof I afiiX my-signature.

LOUIS v. JOHNSON. [LS-.1, 

